114? THE VEGETABLE CULTIVATOR. 



22. GARLIC. ALLIUM. 



Allium sativum, according to the Linnaean system 

 of botany, stands in the same class and order as the 

 onion. Its Latin name is supposed to have origin- 

 ated from the rapidity of its growth. The term 

 garlic was given on account of its powerful and 

 penetrating scent. It is a native of Sicily, the south 

 of France, and many other parts of the world, and 

 was first generally used in this country in the reign 

 of Queen Mary. 



Many excellent medicinal qualities are attributed 

 to this root; for instance, it is known to be of 

 great service in humoral asthmas and catarrhous 

 affections : a few cloves, peeled and pounded with 

 honey, and taken two or three nights successively, 

 will also be found of benefit for rheumatism ; and 

 few men are more liable to this painful disorder 

 than gardeners, from being so much exposed to 

 the wet and cold during the winter season. 



It is considered to be efficacious in many other 

 complaints, and would, no doubt, be more generally 

 used, were it not for i(s acrimonious taste and dis- 

 agreeable odour. 



Garlic, when dressed after the fashion of our 

 neighbours on the Continent, forms a very pleasant 

 sauce for roast mutton, and is preferable to sticking 

 a clove or two in the knuckle of a leg. If the 

 sauce is made according to the following direction, 

 given to the author by a gentleman who used it for 

 roast meats, and who considered it a strengthener 

 of the stomach, it will be found mild, agreeable, 

 and most wholesome. The garlic, after being peeled 



